Forty Minute Forum » Winter 2009January 11, 2009
Dr. Shane Green Director of Outreach, Ontario Genomics Institute Stem cell research - opportunities and challenges Stem cell research has captured the attention, imagination, and passions of the public and scientific community alike. Dr Green will provide a brief overview of the science of stem cell research, the ethical issues it raises, and how it is regulated in Canada and abroad.
January 18, 2009
Gill Deacon Best-selling author (Green For Life), award-winning broadcaster,/host of The Gill Deacon Show and @discovery.ca, co-founder of the Global Cooling Society Green For Life Gill Deacon delivers a passionate call to awareness around environmental issues. Using humour, anecdote and startling research, Gill conveys a sense of urgency and possibility for change. As well as being a broadcaster, Gill is an active environmentalist who will leave you both inspired to take the earth into consideration and informed about easy and meaningful ways to do it. January 25, 2009
John Geiger Author of The Third Man Factor, which will be published in 9 countries this week, best-selling writer, newspaper editor, Royal Canadian Geographical Society Governor, and Fellow of the Explorers Club
The Third Man Factor It is an extraordinary idea: That people at the very edge of death, often adventurers or explorers, experience a sense of an incorporeal being beside them who encourages them to make one final effort to survive. It has happened again and again, to 9/11 survivors, mountaineers, divers, polar explorers, prisoners of war, solo sailors, and astronauts. Explained as everything from hallucination to divine intervention, recent neurological research suggests something else. John Geiger combines history, scientific analysis and great adventure stories to explain this secret to survival.
February 1, 2009
Prof. Peter H. Russell Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto; author, Two Cheers for Minority Government: The Evolution of Canadian Parliamentary Democracy Learning to Live with Minority Governments Don’t bemoan minority governments! According to Prof. Russell, minority government is our best bet for restoring true parliamentary government—and resisting the trend towards concentrating power in the office of Prime Minister.
February 8, 2009
Dr. Barrie Wilson Professor, Humanities & Religious Studies, York University, Toronto, specialist in early Christian origins, author of How Jesus Became Christian
James versus Paul: Two Early Forms of Christianity So who was Jesus really? What did his brother (James) say about him? Where did Paul come from and how was he so radical in the context of his own era? What’s a Messiah supposed to do? What do we now know of early Christianity that we did not know even 20 years ago?
February 15, 2009
Thomas Appleyard Emergency Management Consultant to Non-Profit Health Care Organizations Regarding Emergencies and Disasters; founder of Preparedness Are we ready for the next influenza pandemic? In 2003 the World Health Organization declared a Pandemic Alert based on the activity of a new bird flu virus. What are we really preparing for? What did we learn from SARS, and will it help us? What happened during previous influenza pandemics? What preparation is being done in Toronto? How can individuals, families, organizations and communities prepare? |
